CBS

Kurt von Schleicher was born on July 4, 1882. He joined the German Army in 1900 and, during World War I, was a general on Paul von Hindenburg's staff. In 1932, when President von Hindenburg's initial appointment for Chancellor, Franz von Papen, failed to control the chaos the Nazis were causing in the Reichstag, Hindenburg replaced him with Schleicher. Schleicher's first responsibility was to find a way to control the National Socialists. Knowing there was dissention within the Nazi party, he tried to capitalize on the rift and undermine Hitler's power by appointing one of Hitler's Nazi Party rivals, Gregor Strasser, as Vice Chancellor. Schleicher's attempt failed, however, when Strasser declined the offer because Hitler accused Strasser of being a traitor to the movement and forced him to relinquish both his post in the Reichstag and the party. Only a little over a month after his appointment to the powerful position of Chancellor, Schleicher had alienated practically every political party in the Reichstag. Having created only further chaos in the German government, Schleicher was forced to step down. Hindenburg then reluctantly appointed Hitler Chancellor on January 30, 1933. By mid-1934, with President Hindenburg's health failing, Hitler seized control of the German government and ordered Schleicher executed, along with scores of others he deemed enemies of the state. Schleicher was murdered in his apartment on June 30, 1934, a date that would later become known as the "Night of Long Knives."